School plans still making progress

PLANS to build a new primary school in the centre of Swindon are still progressing, if not as fast as originally hoped.

Clifton Diocese is overseeing a plan to build in the grounds of St Joseph’s School to provide more places in the town centre.

Originally, St Joseph’s was set to run the school but after it was placed in special measures last year Holy Rood Junior School took over the project.

The plan is for them to move into the new premises which would allow them to provide for almost 200 more pupils.

Holy Rood Infant School will then move into the empty premises in Upham Road and become a through school, offering more places.

Although work is progressing, the changing of schools in charge, along with planning issues, has meant the whole process has been delayed.

Diocesan secretary Nick Tarr, who is in charge of the project, said: “Things are progressing but probably not at the rate we were initially hoping.

“At the moment we have several hurdles which need to be overcome but things are moving forward. “We need the conformation from the Department Of Education but I understand that is close to going before a minister.

“The planning process is taking slightly longer as there are concerns the new school will take away a playing field at St Joseph’s but that is not what is happening so we should be able to get past that.”

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The overall project is set to cost about £4m, of which about £3.5m will come from the Government. It is set to cost Clifton Diocese in the region of £500,000 but most of that is likely to be spent on moving the infant school to Upham Road.

The school will eventually cater for just over 450 pupils. Ideally the plan is for the school to open in 2015 but this will be dependent on how long it takes to get clearance.

Nick said: “In total, it is a 12- month building project so we are some way from the cut-off point when we will have to start building to be open on time.

“What we have done is added some classrooms to Holy Rood Junior School so in the short term we can start with our expansion.

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“We see this as a fantastic opportunity to help improve the Catholic primary education and that is why we are putting time and money into it.

“At the moment it is my number one priority to get this school up and running.”

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Comments (8)

I do not agree with tax payers money being used to fund religious schools. Schools should be secular and open to all irrespective of the parents religious beliefs.

I do not agree with tax payers money being used to fund religious schools.
Schools should be secular and open to all irrespective of the parents religious beliefs.nobody

I do not agree with tax payers money being used to fund religious schools. Schools should be secular and open to all irrespective of the parents religious beliefs.

Score: 3

A.Baron-Cohen says...11:24am Fri 14 Feb 14

nobody wrote…

I do not agree with tax payers money being used to fund religious schools. Schools should be secular and open to all irrespective of the parents religious beliefs.

Taxpayers money should not be used to fund any schools. Schools should be funded by the parents and run efficiently by the school staff, competing against other schools to attract the best parents and teachers.

[quote][p][bold]nobody[/bold] wrote:
I do not agree with tax payers money being used to fund religious schools.
Schools should be secular and open to all irrespective of the parents religious beliefs.[/p][/quote]Taxpayers money should not be used to fund any schools.
Schools should be funded by the parents and run efficiently by the school staff, competing against other schools to attract the best parents and teachers.A.Baron-Cohen

nobody wrote…

I do not agree with tax payers money being used to fund religious schools. Schools should be secular and open to all irrespective of the parents religious beliefs.

Taxpayers money should not be used to fund any schools. Schools should be funded by the parents and run efficiently by the school staff, competing against other schools to attract the best parents and teachers.

Score: -5

Ian13 says...12:19pm Fri 14 Feb 14

A.Baron-Cohen wrote…

nobody wrote…

I do not agree with tax payers money being used to fund religious schools. Schools should be secular and open to all irrespective of the parents religious beliefs.

Taxpayers money should not be used to fund any schools. Schools should be funded by the parents and run efficiently by the school staff, competing against other schools to attract the best parents and teachers.

So should hospitals only be funded by those that use them? Education of the next generation is to the benefit of us all.

[quote][p][bold]A.Baron-Cohen[/bold] wrote:
[quote][p][bold]nobody[/bold] wrote: I do not agree with tax payers money being used to fund religious schools. Schools should be secular and open to all irrespective of the parents religious beliefs.[/p][/quote]Taxpayers money should not be used to fund any schools. Schools should be funded by the parents and run efficiently by the school staff, competing against other schools to attract the best parents and teachers.[/p][/quote]So should hospitals only be funded by those that use them?
Education of the next generation is to the benefit of us all.Ian13

A.Baron-Cohen wrote…

nobody wrote…

I do not agree with tax payers money being used to fund religious schools. Schools should be secular and open to all irrespective of the parents religious beliefs.

Taxpayers money should not be used to fund any schools. Schools should be funded by the parents and run efficiently by the school staff, competing against other schools to attract the best parents and teachers.

So should hospitals only be funded by those that use them? Education of the next generation is to the benefit of us all.

Score: 3

Davey Gravey says...12:20pm Fri 14 Feb 14

nobody wrote…

I do not agree with tax payers money being used to fund religious schools. Schools should be secular and open to all irrespective of the parents religious beliefs.

All primary schools are religious. Agree with your second comment though.

[quote][p][bold]nobody[/bold] wrote:
I do not agree with tax payers money being used to fund religious schools.
Schools should be secular and open to all irrespective of the parents religious beliefs.[/p][/quote]All primary schools are religious. Agree with your second comment though.Davey Gravey

nobody wrote…

I do not agree with tax payers money being used to fund religious schools. Schools should be secular and open to all irrespective of the parents religious beliefs.

All primary schools are religious. Agree with your second comment though.

Score: -1

A.Baron-Cohen says...12:35pm Fri 14 Feb 14

Ian13 wrote…

A.Baron-Cohen wrote…

nobody wrote…

I do not agree with tax payers money being used to fund religious schools. Schools should be secular and open to all irrespective of the parents religious beliefs.

Taxpayers money should not be used to fund any schools. Schools should be funded by the parents and run efficiently by the school staff, competing against other schools to attract the best parents and teachers.

So should hospitals only be funded by those that use them? Education of the next generation is to the benefit of us all.

Absolutely, education is an investment however it must be made by the parents themselves, it is wrong to put this responsibility on the community, Japanese have a great education system, paid for by the parents. Hospitals funded by registered patients? yes, it is the rule in most countries

[quote][p][bold]Ian13[/bold] wrote:
[quote][p][bold]A.Baron-Cohen[/bold] wrote:
[quote][p][bold]nobody[/bold] wrote: I do not agree with tax payers money being used to fund religious schools. Schools should be secular and open to all irrespective of the parents religious beliefs.[/p][/quote]Taxpayers money should not be used to fund any schools. Schools should be funded by the parents and run efficiently by the school staff, competing against other schools to attract the best parents and teachers.[/p][/quote]So should hospitals only be funded by those that use them?
Education of the next generation is to the benefit of us all.[/p][/quote]Absolutely, education is an investment however it must be made by the parents themselves, it is wrong to put this responsibility on the community, Japanese have a great education system, paid for by the parents.
Hospitals funded by registered patients? yes, it is the rule in most countriesA.Baron-Cohen

Ian13 wrote…

A.Baron-Cohen wrote…

nobody wrote…

I do not agree with tax payers money being used to fund religious schools. Schools should be secular and open to all irrespective of the parents religious beliefs.

Taxpayers money should not be used to fund any schools. Schools should be funded by the parents and run efficiently by the school staff, competing against other schools to attract the best parents and teachers.

So should hospitals only be funded by those that use them? Education of the next generation is to the benefit of us all.

Absolutely, education is an investment however it must be made by the parents themselves, it is wrong to put this responsibility on the community, Japanese have a great education system, paid for by the parents. Hospitals funded by registered patients? yes, it is the rule in most countries

Score: 1

ChannelX says...2:21pm Fri 14 Feb 14

Ian13 wrote…

A.Baron-Cohen wrote…

nobody wrote…

I do not agree with tax payers money being used to fund religious schools. Schools should be secular and open to all irrespective of the parents religious beliefs.

Taxpayers money should not be used to fund any schools. Schools should be funded by the parents and run efficiently by the school staff, competing against other schools to attract the best parents and teachers.

So should hospitals only be funded by those that use them? Education of the next generation is to the benefit of us all.

Why shouldn't hospitals be funded by those who use them at the time they actually do use them? As it stands, we're forced to pay thousands of pounds per year towards a 'service' (of sorts) that we may not actually use.

[quote][p][bold]Ian13[/bold] wrote:
[quote][p][bold]A.Baron-Cohen[/bold] wrote:
[quote][p][bold]nobody[/bold] wrote: I do not agree with tax payers money being used to fund religious schools. Schools should be secular and open to all irrespective of the parents religious beliefs.[/p][/quote]Taxpayers money should not be used to fund any schools. Schools should be funded by the parents and run efficiently by the school staff, competing against other schools to attract the best parents and teachers.[/p][/quote]So should hospitals only be funded by those that use them?
Education of the next generation is to the benefit of us all.[/p][/quote]Why shouldn't hospitals be funded by those who use them at the time they actually do use them?
As it stands, we're forced to pay thousands of pounds per year towards a 'service' (of sorts) that we may not actually use.ChannelX

Ian13 wrote…

A.Baron-Cohen wrote…

nobody wrote…

I do not agree with tax payers money being used to fund religious schools. Schools should be secular and open to all irrespective of the parents religious beliefs.

Taxpayers money should not be used to fund any schools. Schools should be funded by the parents and run efficiently by the school staff, competing against other schools to attract the best parents and teachers.

So should hospitals only be funded by those that use them? Education of the next generation is to the benefit of us all.

Why shouldn't hospitals be funded by those who use them at the time they actually do use them? As it stands, we're forced to pay thousands of pounds per year towards a 'service' (of sorts) that we may not actually use.

Score: -2

PaulD says...2:25pm Fri 14 Feb 14

Why should my taxes pay for a fire service? My house is not on fire? I can't agree enough though that all schools should be secular. Religion is nothing more than medieval mythology that is now twisted into a form of brainwashing and control. That is ALL religions.

Why should my taxes pay for a fire service? My house is not on fire?
I can't agree enough though that all schools should be secular. Religion is nothing more than medieval mythology that is now twisted into a form of brainwashing and control.
That is ALL religions.PaulD

Why should my taxes pay for a fire service? My house is not on fire? I can't agree enough though that all schools should be secular. Religion is nothing more than medieval mythology that is now twisted into a form of brainwashing and control. That is ALL religions.

Score: 3

ChannelX says...3:40pm Fri 14 Feb 14

PaulD wrote…

Why should my taxes pay for a fire service? My house is not on fire? I can't agree enough though that all schools should be secular. Religion is nothing more than medieval mythology that is now twisted into a form of brainwashing and control. That is ALL religions.

PaulD - when was the last time you had a house fire that required the services of the fire department?

[quote][p][bold]PaulD[/bold] wrote:
Why should my taxes pay for a fire service? My house is not on fire?
I can't agree enough though that all schools should be secular. Religion is nothing more than medieval mythology that is now twisted into a form of brainwashing and control.
That is ALL religions.[/p][/quote]PaulD - when was the last time you had a house fire that required the services of the fire department?ChannelX

PaulD wrote…

Why should my taxes pay for a fire service? My house is not on fire? I can't agree enough though that all schools should be secular. Religion is nothing more than medieval mythology that is now twisted into a form of brainwashing and control. That is ALL religions.

PaulD - when was the last time you had a house fire that required the services of the fire department?

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